IDLE code completion window can hang or misbehave with mouse or <return>

[suddhasourav]

BPO	15786
Nosy	@terryjreedy, @taleinat, @ned-deily, @serwy, @roseman, @serhiy-storchaka, @mlouielu
PRs	bpo-15786: IDLE: Fix autocomletetion mouse click and freeze behavior #1517 bpo-15786: IDLE: Fix behavior when mouse click at autocompletetion window #1811 bpo-15786: IDLE: Fix mouse clicks on autocompletetion window (#1811) #2187 bpo-15786: Fix IDLE autocomplete return problem. #2198 [3.6]bpo-15786: Fix IDLE autocomplete return problem. (#2198) #2199

^{Note: these values reflect the state of the issue at the time it was migrated and might not reflect the current state.}

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GitHub fields:

assignee = 'https://github.com/terryjreedy'
closed_at = <Date 2017-06-14.16:36:38.718>
created_at = <Date 2012-08-27.00:35:00.748>
labels = ['expert-IDLE', 'type-bug', '3.7']
title = 'IDLE code completion window can hang or misbehave with mouse'
updated_at = <Date 2017-06-14.20:10:53.229>
user = 'https://bugs.python.org/suddhasourav'

bugs.python.org fields:

activity = <Date 2017-06-14.20:10:53.229>
actor = 'terry.reedy'
assignee = 'terry.reedy'
closed = True
closed_date = <Date 2017-06-14.16:36:38.718>
closer = 'terry.reedy'
components = ['IDLE']
creation = <Date 2012-08-27.00:35:00.748>
creator = 'suddha.sourav'
dependencies = []
files = []
hgrepos = []
issue_num = 15786
keywords = []
message_count = 51.0
messages = ['169175', '169178', '169191', '171842', '171849', '171880', '220751', '220785', '241368', '241429', '264921', '264926', '264928', '264929', '264962', '265265', '265446', '265450', '265456', '265466', '265488', '265490', '265491', '265495', '265498', '270903', '272070', '293305', '293309', '293339', '293345', '293355', '293373', '293376', '293389', '293392', '293474', '293598', '294461', '294736', '294745', '294766', '294805', '295979', '295980', '296011', '296013', '296015', '296029', '296030', '296031']
nosy_count = 11.0
nosy_names = ['terry.reedy', 'taleinat', 'ned.deily', 'roger.serwy', 'markroseman', 'Al.Sweigart', 'serhiy.storchaka', 'littleq0903', 'suddha.sourav', 'paulsfo', 'louielu']
pr_nums = ['1517', '1811', '2187', '2198', '2199']
priority = 'normal'
resolution = 'fixed'
stage = 'resolved'
status = 'closed'
superseder = None
type = 'behavior'
url = 'https://bugs.python.org/issue15786'
versions = ['Python 3.6', 'Python 3.7']

[suddhasourav]

In IDLE, pressing tab brings up the code completion menu - however, the scrollbar, when clicked, does not scroll - it disappears. Same goes for clicking an option in the code completion widget - it disappears. Keyboard navigation (pgup/pgdown/up/down) and tab works. In addition, pressing enter does not autocomplete but execute what was meant to be selected.

[littleq0903]

On which platform?

[suddhasourav]

Platform is Windows 7 Professional 64-bit. Sorry for not including the information!

[suddhasourav]

I would like to let you know that the issue also persists for Windows 8 Pro
RTM. Has anything been decided on this bug?

On Fri, Aug 31, 2012 at 5:56 PM, Terry J. Reedy <report@bugs.python.org>wrote:

Changes by Terry J. Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu>:

----------
nosy: +serwy, terry.reedy

---

Python tracker <report@bugs.python.org>
<http://bugs.python.org/issue15786\>

---

[serwy]

I can confirm that the existing behavior of IDLE prohibits clicking on the scroll bar on Windows (but not Linux). Clicking on an item in the window closes it without actually selecting the clicked item. This is true on both Windows and Linux.

On Windows, the <FocusOut> event is generated when selecting the completion window, causing it to close. On Linux with Gnome3.4, the scroll bar is clickable without closing the window.

By removing "<FocusOut>" from HIDE_SEQUENCES in AutoCompleteWindow.py, the completion window can now take focus. However, the completion window will need some work since key presses in the focused window doesn't change the text selection.

[suddhasourav]

Thank you for the hint, Roger! On my side, I have changed the
HIDE_SEQUENCES tuple to ("<Key-Escape>",) and it is giving me the behaviour
I desired. However, I am not sure if this is a fix of the real issue.

I tried IDLE on OpenSUSE 12.2 last night and faced the problem in its other
manifestation, which you describe.

Thank you again tor the quick feedback!

[ned-deily]

Investigating a user report of IDLE freezing on OS X when mouse clicking on the code completion menu led me to this issue. The behavior I see varies depending on the Tk variant in use. The basic test case is:

1. launch IDLE with an IDLE shell window open
2. open an IDLE edit window for a new file
3. in the edit window, press "a" then "TAB"
4. the code completion window opens as expected
5. using the mouse, click on a selection in the code completion list

With two different X11 Tk's (Debian Linux 8.5.x and OS X X11 8.6.x), clicking on the selection causes the code completion window to disappear but the code completion text does not appear in the edit window. Further, then pressing "Return", "a", and "Tab" to try a new code completion results in the code completion window momentarily appearing then disappearing. If one uses the mouse to click on and change focus to another IDLE window (e.g. the shell window), then click on and return focus to the edit window, the code completion window starts working again, at least, until using the mouse to click on a selection again.

With the current Cocoa Tk 8.5.x on OS X (the most commonly used Tk there), the behavior is even more confusing to the user. After mouse-clicking on a code completion menu item, the code completion menu disappears but then the edit window becomes unresponsive to either the keyboard or the mouse until focus is moved, again by clicking on another IDLE window and then returning to the "hung" edit window.

Oddly enough, the older Carbon Tk 8.4.x on OS X (used with 32-bit-only Pythons) seems to handle this all correctly.

I did not try this with a Windows Tk. I also did not systematically check all current versions of IDLE with all of those Tk variants but spot checking saw similar behavior on current dev (pre-3.5), 3.4.1, and 2.7.x.

[terryjreedy]

Idle Help, Completion sections "Two tabs in a row will supply the current ACW selection, as will return or a double click." On 3.4 windows, tab-tab works, one click dismisses the box immediately but without disabling it. Contrary to the claim above, <return> dismisses the box with no entry and enters <return> into the window (shell or editor). <space> on the other hand, does the same as tab-tab + enters a space. I actually like this better than return, but the doc and behavior should match and the widget never become disabled. The doc does not say anything about navigation.

I recently committed an *incomplete* test_autocomplete from one of last summer's GSOC students, but it obviously does not test what really needs to be tested.

[terryjreedy]

I closed bpo-23954 in favor of this one.

[AlSweigart]

Additionally, pressing tab after the autocomplete window has appeared should not just update the text but also close the autocomplete window.

The repro steps are (on Windows 7 64-bit, Python 3.5):

1. Type "pri"
2. Press Ctrl+Space or click Edit > Show Completions. The autocomplete window appears.
3. Press Tab. The text updates from "pri" to "print"
4. However, the autocomplete window is still there.
5. Pressing space or ( will then cause the autocomplete window to disappear.

[paulsfo]

I'm new to IDLE. I just upgraded to Mac El Capitan from Snow Leopard, and installed Python 3.5.1 (v3.5.1:37a07cee5969, Dec 5 2015, 21:12:44).

I have had the IDLE window freeze so many times (when clicking on something in the autocomplete window as described by Ned Deily) that I consider IDLE unusable. I'm not familiar with Python bug practices but I would consider this a serious bug because, as a product manager would probably put it, this is going to drive away a significant percentage of new users (i.e., unexplained freezing of the product when doing something which seems natural -- clicking on the item that I want to select).

BTW, looks like I'm on tcl 8.5:
>>> tkinter.TclVersion
8.5

Unrelated question: which can't Mac Spotlight find tkinter.py? is it in some compressed file or something, so I can't find a standalone py file?